La Masia

La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia, is often used to generically describe the Barcelona youth academy. This academy holds more than 300 young players, and has been praised since 2002 as one of the best in the world, being a significant factor in FC Barcelona's European success as well as the Spanish national team's success at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.In 2010, La Masia became the first youth academy to have trained all three finalists for the Ballon d'Or in a single year, with Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Xavi.La Masia is also the name of FC Barcelona's football training facilities, originally located near the Camp Nou in the Les Corts district of Barcelona. The original building itself was an ancient country residence (In Catalan: masia) built in 1702, and once Camp Nou was inaugurated in 1957, the building was remodelled and extended for use as the club's social headquarters. With the gradual expansion of the club, the building became too small for headquarters, and on 20 October 1979, La Masia was converted into a dormitory for young players from outside of Barcelona. On 30 June 2011, the Masia building ceased housing the young sportsmen who are trained to become a part of the club’s professional teams. In a simple ceremony, the doors were closed and the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper took over the function of the residential center for the youngsters.